


Princes in the Tower

by SleepsWithCoyotes



Category: Shin Megami Tensei: Digital Devil Saga
Genre: M/M, Memory Loss
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-21
Updated: 2019-07-21
Packaged: 2020-07-10 09:20:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,559
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19903402
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SleepsWithCoyotes/pseuds/SleepsWithCoyotes
Summary: How did he become the bad guy, anyway?





	Princes in the Tower

**Author's Note:**

> Archiving old fic from 2005. This scene in the game made me snorty-laugh, because it was just...so...obvious. D:

The castle was a candle that had been burned at both ends, crumbling from the top down and the bottom up. Chunks of cracked masonry littered the grounds, leaving gaps in the sagging battlements and raddled foundations. The stone might have been white once, but now the ruins were as grey as the clouds above, an abandoned hulk that soaked up the rain and squatted forgotten in its decay.

Kicking at a fist-sized hunk of dirty rock, Heat watched it roll away in a spatter of mud, unappeased by the hollow plunk it made as it lurched into a puddle and stuck there. They were taking too long, and he itched to move. On his own, he could have found Sera by now. On his own, he would never have let her be taken in the first place.

"This place seems so familiar," Argilla murmured, wrapping her arms around herself with a confused headshake.

"You've never been here before." It wasn't like Gale was asking, but did the bastard have to sound so sure?

Serph was staring straight ahead, face tipped up to the leaning towers unmarked by any tribe's flag. That the Solids hadn't claimed the ruins just reinforced the idea that this place was worthless, an indefensible clutter of overdone architecture only useful as a trap.

And Serph wasn't moving. Heat felt his lips pull back in a snarl, a low growl grating quietly in his throat, and found an obscure sort of comfort in the sound. It made Serph look over at him, and though he'd intended to give back only silence to Serph's silent regard, he found himself answering the question in his leader's colorless eyes.

"I've never seen a building like that," he muttered, his growl stuttering and dying. "So why do I feel like I know it?"

He didn't know where that last bit came from, either--it wasn't anything he'd meant to say, that was for certain. Fuck, he sounded as bad as Argilla. Next he was going to start crying over their enemies, and why couldn't they all just hold hands and get along?

Serph nodded once, maybe acknowledgement and maybe agreement--who the hell knew with Serph? Heat used to think he understood the guy, but now he wasn't so sure. Maybe it just hadn't ever mattered before because they'd always been on the same page.

Things were different now, but not so different that he didn't follow when Serph started up the path.

Inside the castle it was dusty and stank of mildew, but the ceiling was still in one piece and the floor looked sound enough. There were remnants of its former glory as well: the stained glass over the doors, the immense statues flanking them on either side, the faded wallpaper and the dull weave of once-bright carpet. And a voice over hidden speakers, scratchy with time, sounding nothing like the crisp announcements that came from the Temple.

_"Welcome to Destiny Land's beautiful Mystery Castle. The story I will tell you is about a beautiful princess and two princes. What dramatic ending awaits the story along this path?"_

The voice droned on, but Heat barely heard a word of it. He glanced over at a quiet gasp and found Argilla staring at nothing, her face tense but oddly soft at the same time. That look reminded him of pain, but he wasn't sure it was the kind of pain you could taste.

"Are you well?" Gale asked, brows lifting slowly. Heat snickered--he couldn't help himself--because if Gale weren't such a fucking _stick_ , he'd be eyeing her like a nervous...cat.

Huh. What the hell did he know about cats, anyway?

"I'm fine," Argilla said quickly, hugging herself again. "It's just...doesn't this place seem at all familiar?"

"No."

"Figures," Heat said with a snort, pushing past Serph to take the steps down to the open floor two by two. "Didn't that recording say to open the door? I only see one."

"Actually, there are hidden passages to the east and west--"

"Can it, Gale. Well, Serph? Are we going, or are we going to stand around all day playing guessing games?"

Serph didn't get mad, didn't rise to his challenge, didn't even _blink_. Heat got another nod, and Serph flowed past him, unruffled and calm. Heat's hands itched to reach out, grab Serph as he passed and shake him, hard. Maybe that would put a dent in Serph's placid shell for once. It might even knock loose more than the five words Serph averaged in a week.

He'd never really noticed it before the change, but Serph smelled a lot like the rain.

The north door was unlocked, and the faint groan of its hinges was mostly drowned out by the recorded voice as it doled out its tale in breathless tones. Heat listened with only half an ear, dogging Serph's footsteps as their leader crossed the empty room to stand before a painting that ran cold fingers down Heat's back.

_"This story took place not long ago. In a certain kingdom, there lived a beautiful princess with mysterious powers...."_

The hair was all wrong. It was longer, coiled into thick, loose curls, falling to shoulders rounded by a pointlessly frilly dress. It was the face that startled him, because it was exactly the same, even the eyes.

"That looks like Sera," Argilla said quietly, and Heat didn't even feel like snapping at her for stating the obvious.

_"Her powers were very special, for they protected the country and drove away hardship."_

"The resemblance is striking," Gale admitted, "but these ruins have been here for many years. It can only be a coincidence."

_"However, one day, an evil being captured the princess, and planned to use her power for evil. She was imprisoned high up in a tall tower."_

Coincidence. Right. And maybe it was just _coincidence_ that she was here at all, just when he--when they--needed her most.

Serph didn't say a fucking word. He just stared at that portrait without flinching as the voice murmured on, no hint of what he was thinking or feeling showing on his face.

_"In a neighboring kingdom, there lived two princes who happened to be close friends of the princess. One prince was always kind...the other was brash, and took a liking to violence. Thus, behind their backs, people began calling them the 'good prince' and the 'evil prince.'"_

"But don't you think it's strange? I mean...it looks just like her. It's like we were meant to find this."

"I do not comprehend."

That phrase--four little words he wouldn't have blinked at a week ago--made something inside his head snap with a dull throb.

"Damn it, will you two shut the fuck up? Who cares if it's a conspiracy or a fluke? If you don't stop _yapping_ , I swear I'm going to rip your fucking _heads off_."

Gale opened his mouth, but before he could drone one 'I do not comprehend' too many--and damn right, he didn't comprehend; even transformed, Gale didn't comprefuckinghend--Serph was right there between them, shaking his head. It made him hesitate, even with Argilla hugging herself and muttering, "Get a grip, Heat."

Even now, hours later, he could still feel the cool touch of Serph's hand on his arm, deceptively strong. He'd only meant to hit Gale a little, just enough to shut him up--even a token show of blood would have satisfied him--but Serph had gotten between them then, too. Unthinkingly he clasped his hand to that place, but his own skin was feverish-hot, nothing like Serph's. It wasn't even a good reminder, and it didn't explain anything at all.

Anger and confusion twisted inside his gut as he watched Serph walk away, heading for the door nearest the painting. He was getting used to those feelings--more the anger than the confusion--but he could still be unsettled now and then by the intensity of his emotions. They were always ready to boil over at any minute, and the only time he could shake the near-constant urge to _hurt_ something was when he was with Sera. Even his own people weren't sacred. Not even Serph.

Especially Serph. He just wasn't sure if he wanted to hurt him or....

Heat growled, ignoring Argilla's suspicious glance as he stomped grudgingly after Serph, his cloak flaring half-heartedly in his wake as it began to dry out.

It was the 'or' that stumped him every time. Some part of him knew that there was another half to that equation, but for the life of him he couldn't remember what. He only knew that pushing Serph down presented no conflict to that unremembered 'or' whatsoever.

_"In fact, the princess was secretly in love with the good prince."_

He needed to find Sera. Everything seemed clearer when he was with her, even if she was a lot like Serph. At least you could talk with her. Maybe he could ask her about his 'or' before he did something he shouldn't. Maybe Serph would be different around her too, and that thick shell would thaw.

"Interesting. I believe I smell goat."

"Ugh. I _hate_ Baphomets."

"What is...'hate'?"

"This isn't a damn _field trip_ , morons!"

And maybe Sera could shut those two up while she was at it.


End file.
